Features

Choral Singing: Chicken Soup for the Soul

Chelsea Nicole Spangler - March 10, 2009

What do an archaeologist, a lawyer, and a black belt in jujitsu have in common? They may sound like the beginning of a bad joke, but in reality they're a sampling of the Bay Area's choristers.

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The Interpretation of Tales

Lisa Houston - March 3, 2009

It is a season for anniversaries at Berkeley Opera. This year is the company’s 30th season, which will be celebrated at a star-studded gala on March 29, featuring soprano Ruth Ann Swenson.

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Oakland East Bay Symphony: Gold at 20

Jason Victor Serinus - March 3, 2009

Oakland, long recognized as one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the United States, is a microcosm of the new face of America. For Oakland's arts organizations to remain relevant to the city's multicultural population, they must pioneer new forms of outreach and expression.

Music News: February 24, 2009

Janos Gereben - February 27, 2009

Teenage Composer at SFSYO Concert

On the program of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra's March 8 concert: the premiere of 17-year-old Preben Antonsen's Thresh of Gear. The conductor is Wattis Foundation Music Director Benjamin Shwartz; the concert also includes Beethoven’s Symphony No.

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Written in Blood: Sofia Gubaidulina’s Artistic Testament

Georgia Rowe - February 17, 2009

Who is Sofia Gubaidulina? Audiences unfamiliar with the name (pronounced goo-bye-DOO-lee-nah) may be surprised to learn that she is one of the most distinctive, highly regarded composers in the world today.

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Classical Times Two: China and Western Music

Chelsea Nicole Spangler - February 10, 2009

The New Year’s parade may be over, but San Francisco has not finished ringing in the year of the ox.

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Making Time for Mendelssohn

Heuwell Tircuit - February 3, 2009

Of all the underrated genius-level composers of the 19th century, none is more undeserving of his second-tier status than Felix Mendelssohn, whose bicentennial occurs this Tuesday, February 3. Few displayed a more natural or more all-encompassing talent than he, and from a remarkably early age, at that. In a way, he was the Mozart of the Romantic age.

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Passion for Bach

Michael Zwiebach - January 20, 2009

The American Bach Soloists, a charter member of the Bay Area’s thriving early music community, turns 20 this season.

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Welcoming the Dawn

Michael Zwiebach - January 13, 2009

It's rare that an interesting new opera simply appears, without the fanfare of commissions and publicity surrounding the premiere. Yet composer Allen Shearer's second opera, The Dawn Makers, is poised to do just that, when it debuts at San Francisco's Herbst Theatre on Feb. 4, conducted by J. Karla Lemon, directed by Brian Staufenbiel, and produced by Composers, Inc.